Tracking donor-reactive T cells: Evidence for clonal deletion in tolerant kidney transplant patients.

ABSTRACT: T cell responses to allogeneic major histocompatibility complex antigens present a formidable barrier to organ transplantation, necessitating long-term immunosuppression to minimize rejection. Chronic rejection and drug-induced morbidities are major limitations that could be overcome by allograft tolerance induction. Tolerance was first intentionally induced in humans via combined kidney and bone marrow transplantation (CKBMT), but the mechanisms of tolerance in these patients are incompletely understood. We now establish an assay to identify donor-reactive T cells and test the role of deletion in tolerance after CKBMT. Using high-throughput sequencing of the T cell receptor B chain CDR3 region, we define a fingerprint of the donor-reactive T cell repertoire before transplantation and trac

SUBMITTER: Morris H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4360892 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature